Friday, April 27, 2012

Imagine being threatened and....

forced to give up your child. That's what happened to me. Oh, I'm Vanessa Gleason, by the way.

When I first met Charles Sanford, I lived in Cleveland. He often had dealings with the lawyers where I worked. He convinced me to quit and move to Cincinnati and work for him. It wasn't a difficult decision, I didn't have anything to keep me in Cleveland and I was already infatuated. He swept me off my feet, lavished me with gifts -flowers, jewelry, even clothes. It was a whirlwind romance, going to the club, theater, surprise trips to Cancun, the Bahamas, you name it. Before I knew it, he asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes, I was crazy in love.
It was obvious from the first day I met her, Mrs. Sanford wasn't thrilled with Charles's choice for a bride, but she took over, planned the most expensive wedding of almost a thousand people and even picked out my dress. Not that I cared, I just wanted to be part of the family.
It didn't take long to realize she was out to destroy my marriage. Little comments, tactfully made of course, about how I was too friendly with the help or how I shouldn't pick up after myself. I even heard her tell Joanna, Charles's sister, that I wasn't suited to be Charles's wife. Of course,she insisted I quit my job for Charles - Sanford women didn't work - and join them volunteering and at the garden club and other organizations. I hardly had a minute to myself.
At least I didn't until I had my daughter, Alyssa. Mrs.Sanford wasn't too happen I became pregnant so soon after our marriage. I didn't care. I was thrilled. Charles and I could be a family.
Or so I thought. My fairytail romance soon took a turn for a horror story.
Elusive Mission is available from Amazon

Excerpt

Vanessa blinked
back tears. The empty feeling inside wasn’t going to subside any time soon, and
hiding away in a hotel room wouldn’t change anything. Besides, tears wouldn’t
bring Alyssa back. But, somehow, someway she was going to get her daughter
back. What was her baby doing? Did she miss her? Was she crying? God, she
missed Alyssa. Missed their morning ritual—the loving, hugging, and cuddling.
Every day for two years, they started the day the same way.

At least they did until two weeks ago.

Never in her life had she felt such anger and pain.
Tears burned her eyes, slid down her cheeks. Powerless to stop them, sobs shook
her body. Gulping back the sobs, Vanessa looked around the small hotel room.
Okay, so it wasn’t the Ritz, but it was clean and reasonably priced. Luxury
wasn’t important. Never had been before and sure as heck wasn’t now. The
important thing now was figuring a way to get her daughter back. Time to pull
herself together and get on with life, find a job. Two weeks of self-pity was
enough. Vanessa swung her legs over the side of the bed, went to the bathroom,
and turned on the water for the shower. She needed a plan. Crying wouldn’t
solve a darn thing.

The hot water ran down her gaunt body, and Vanessa
lathered her tangled auburn hair. Was it only two weeks ago life seemed normal?
How could things have changed so suddenly? But it wasn’t sudden. A divorce had
been coming for a long time. She just never expected it to end without Alyssa.
Vanessa shivered getting out of the shower and wrapped the towel around her.
Her only chance of getting Alyssa back was to find a job, and to make a fresh
start.

Showered and dressed, Vanessa caught her reflection in
the mirror. High sunken cheekbones sat beneath green eyes that stared back at
her with a vacant look. How had her face become so skeletal in two weeks? What
happened to the woman, who had her hair done weekly, never appeared without
makeup, and worked out every day? Not that she cared about all that pampering.
None of that mattered, never really had. What mattered was her baby. Living
without luxuries was easy. She’d done it all her life. But losing Alyssa left a
hole in her heart. Never had she experienced such pain. Not even when her
parents died. Losing her child tore her apart. Tears burned her eyes again.

Vanessa gulped back the tears and turned away from the
mirror, straightened her shoulders and stood to her full five foot eight
height. Through the years, her height had afforded her many advantages, and
she’d been proud of it. Not so long ago, it had given her confidence and
security. Time to regain that confidence. She was down, but not broken. No
other way to beat Charles and his mother to win custody of Alyssa, and beat
them she would. Darned, if Mrs. Sanford was going to raise her daughter. Not in
this lifetime.

Charles—what a mistake he turned out to be. Although
he had provided well for the past five years, the past was over. He didn’t
matter anymore. Hadn’t really mattered for a long time.

She brushed the hair from her forehead, smoothed her
blouse and took a last look at the unfamiliar person that stared back at her.

“Time to get down to business, first thing to find a
job,” her voice in the empty room shocked her. It was the first time she’d
spoken in almost two weeks.

Clutching her sweater tight to block out the wind,
Vanessa hurried across the parking lot to the motel lobby and purchased a
paper. Back in her room, she shivered, poured a cup of coffee, sat down at the
small round table, and opened the paper to the classifieds. The settlement
money from Charles was safe in an account, but she didn’t want to count on it
to live. Besides, it wouldn’t last forever. It was time to do something for
her, to feel worthwhile again. That money was the start to getting Alyssa back.
Vanessa smiled. Nothing would make her happier than beating Charles with his
own money. But it would take a lot more than what she had to find a lawyer who
could beat him.

Memory of signing the papers and taking the money
invaded her thoughts. That sneering smile and hushed tone of Mrs. Sanford made
her skin crawl, even now. The words would be forever implanted in her mind.
“Charles has been more than generous in his settlement. You ought to be
grateful, dear.”

Oh yeah, more than generous, but at what price? And
grateful, for what? That they forced her give up her daughter? That Charles had
threatened her? Mrs. Sanford’s idea of grateful and hers sure didn’t agree. And
that dear, if she never heard that term again, it would be too soon, especially
the way Mrs. Sanford said it. But they weren’t going to win. Not by a long
shot.

Vanessa set the paper aside, closed her eyes and
remembered how happy she had once been. How could things have gone so wrong?
All she had wanted was to fit in, to be the perfect wife and part of Charles’s
family. Quitting her job at Mrs. Sanford’s insistence was her first mistake.
Filling her time managing Charles’s large house, fulfilling commitments at the
club, and volunteering with Mother Sanford and Charles’s sister, Joanna, was
supposed to be fun. Fun, yeah right, nothing with Mrs. Sanford was fun.

Pushing the memory from her mind, Vanessa picked up
the newspaper, circled some help wanted ads, and made a few phone calls. It
didn’t take long to figure out Christmas Eve wasn’t the best day to look for a
job.

Christmas Eve. She had lost track of time, Christmas,
when she should be with her daughter. She had begged Charles to let her stay
until after Christmas, but with his mother behind him, as usual, he refused.
How could anyone be so cruel?

“What difference does it make what day it is?” Charles
waved her off. “It’s over, the papers are signed. Take the money and leave
before I change my mind.”

Vanessa left, knowing he meant it. She wouldn’t put
anything past Charles Sanford these days. He sure wasn’t the man she married,
or had she been too blinded by love to see the real Charles?

“But the fight isn’t over, Charles Sanford. Somehow,
someway I’m going to win Alyssa back. No way is your mother going to raise my
baby.” The choked sound of her own voice startled her. The thought of Mrs.
Sanford raising Alyssa sent chills through her. No, that cold, unfeeling witch
wasn’t going to raise her daughter.